Cleaning Method and Equipment thereof for Object FOUP

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a cleaning method and equipment thereof for object FOUP, comprising the following steps: firstly separating the object FOUP into a container lid and a container body, then conducting individual processes of wet washing, liquid removing and vacuum drying for the container lid and container body, and in the end combining the container lid and container body to complete the cleaning procedure of the object FOUP; specifically, during the liquid removing process, multiple wind knives are used to carry out liquid removing for the container body, and during the vacuum drying process after liquid removing, multiple thermal components are used to carry out vacuum drying for the container body under a vacuum environment; moreover, the present invention also includes the cleaning equipment to execute the above method, for the purpose of overcoming the problem that the wet cleaning process in the conventional automatic chip FOUP cleaning technique cannot effectively clean object FOUPs with relatively complicated internal structures.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No.17/341,146 filed on Jul. 7, 2021. The entire disclosures of the aboveapplication are all incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a FOUP for loading andtransferring articles between different processing zone stations, andmore particularly to a cleaning method and equipment thereof for objectFOUP.

2. Description of Related Art

Among the prior-art products, the one closest to the present inventionis a Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP) for loading and transferringsemiconductor chips (hereinafter referred to as chip FOUP.

During the production of semiconductor chips, particularly in variousprocessing zone stations and during transportation of chips betweendifferent processing zone stations, there is a high requirement forcleanness. Any foreign particles in the environment may cause defectivechips.

It is known that semiconductor chips are normally loaded and transferredusing the above-mentioned chip FOUP. Through the operation of anautomatic transportation system, multiple chip FOUPs can respectivelycapture chips from different processing zone stations, hold them andtransfer them between different processing zone stations, and finallyunload the chips at the destination processing zone stations.

A chip FOUP is a combined structure comprising a releasable containerlid and a container body. Inside the container body, the inner walls onboth sides are provided with comb-like protruding ribs, used to supportthe chips held inside, so that multiple chips can be held inside eachchip FOUP.

Due to the high-standard requirement for cleanness, the chip FOUPs mustbe automatically washed after a certain period of usage. At present,public advanced technologies for automatically washing the chip FOUPscan be found in such patents as CN102804332B, TW201400202A, CN1082222A,US20140069467A1 etc. According to those patents, the production line ofchips is provided with a cleaning zone station, and an automatictransportation system is used to transfer the chip FOUP to be washed toa load port of the cleaning zone station. A robot in the cleaning zonestation will automatically pick up the chip FOUP on the load port,firstly separate the container lid from the container body of the chipFOUP, and then hold the container lid and container body to pass throughsuch sequential processes as wet washing in washing liquid, vacuumdrying in vacuum environment, etc., so as to remove the particlespossibly remaining on the inner or outer surfaces of the container lidor container body, and to consequently enhance the cleanness in thedust-free transportation system.

It is also known that chip FOUPs for dust free chip transportation havealready been applied for transporting high-end IC carriers, such as ICcarriers for Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) or ICcarriers that use ABF as build-up material. The areas of such high-endIC carriers are relatively larger than traditional PCBs, and they arelaid out in rectangular forms, so that the hardness of high-end ICcarriers is less than the traditional PCBs. Therefore, when the articleheld inside the FORP is changed from chips to high-end IC carriers, theinternal structure of the FORP must be altered to allow stable placementof multiple high-end IC carriers in each FORP.

FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 disclose the appearance of an existing object FOUP 10for holding the above-mentioned high-end IC carrier 16 (hereinafterreferred to as carrier 16). Its container body 11 and container lid 12are the same as the chip FOUP, and in particular, inside the containerbody 11, the inner walls 11 a on both sides are provided with comb-likeprotruding ribs 13. In addition, because the area of the carrier 16 asthe article to be held is relatively larger and softer, the bottom 11 bof the container body 11 must be formed with suspended support shafts 15protruding from the bottom to the contain chamber 14, so that the ribs13 on both sides can be used to support the two ends 16 a of the carrier16, and the suspended support shaft 15 can be used to hold the middleportion 16 b of the carrier 16, to avoid collapse of the carriers 16inside the object FOUP 10 or inference with each other (see details inFIG. 1 , FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 ).

Therefore, the difference of articles to be held will affect thecomplexity of the internal structure of the container body.Specifically, in the case of object FOUP 10 for transporting carriers,the inside of the container body 11 is provided with comb-like ribs 13and suspended support shafts 15, the overall structure is morecomplicated than the container body for transporting chip FOUPs.

Thus, when cleaning the container body of FOUPs with complicatedinternal structures (such as the container body for transportingcarriers), the above-mentioned public FOUP cleaning technologies are notideal. For example, the wet washing and vacuum drying technologydisclosed in CN102804332B is a recent technique, which includes thefollowing steps:

-   -   1. Multiple liquid nozzles and air nozzles are provided in the        same chamber for wet washing. Firstly, the liquid nozzles are        used to spray and wash the container body, and then the air        nozzles provided inside the chamber are used to blow and remove        the liquid residues on the inner and outer surface of the        container body. However, no matter such liquid nozzles and air        nozzles are fixed or in a rotary state, they will drag the        protruding suspended support shaft inside the container body        within the same chamber, and reduce the overall wet washing and        liquid removing efficiency in the whole cleaning process.        Moreover, capturing and placing the container body with        complicated internal structures may become difficult inside the        wet washing chamber.    -   2. Vacuum drying can be carried out along with wet washing in        the same chamber or in different chambers. However, as the        infrared heaters used for vacuum drying are not designed        according to the container body with troughs and ribs to match        the suspended support shaft or complicated internal structure,        dragging may also happen to reduce the drying efficiency.    -   3. The process of vacuum drying is disclosed only conceptually.        A humidity sensor can be used to monitor the drying process and        control the result. However, there are no descriptions on how        the humidity sensors inside the vacuum drying chamber or at        other locations monitor the humidity of the washed and dried        FOUPs.

To summarize, the existing techniques for automatically cleaning chipFOUPs cannot be effectively applied to clean object FOUPs of differentstyles with complicated internal structures, particularly object FOUPsinside the container body with suspended support shafts protruding intothe contain chamber of the container. Therefore, further researches andinnovations are needed to improve the design.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to improve the existingtechnology for automatically cleaning chip FOUPs, particularly objectFOUP with relatively complicated internal structure of the containerbody, and to develop a technique to improve the wet washing and vacuumdrying efficiency.

The present invention specifically improves the automatic cleaningprocess for conventional chip FOUPs, and divides the whole cleaningprocess into a wet washing process, a liquid removing process and avacuum drying process; for this purpose, one embodiment of the inventiondiscloses an object FOUP cleaning method, which can be used forautomatic cleaning of chip FOUPs or FOUPs containing IC carriers(hereinafter referred to as carriers) made of EMIB or ABF build-upmaterials. In particular, the object FOUP cleaning method disclosed inthe invention is implemented in cleaning processing zone stations. Saidcleaning method includes: firstly, separating the object FOUP into acontainer lid and a container body, said container body having anopening, then, conducting sequential processes of wet washing, liquidremoving and vacuum drying for the container lid and container body, andfinally, combining the container lid and the container body, wherein,said wet washing, liquid removing and vacuum drying processes of thecontainer body are respectively carried out in multiple differentchambers, said multiple different chambers are distributed around thecleaning processing zone stations, including: at least one containerbody washing chamber for wet washing, at least one container body liquidremoving chamber for liquid removing and at least one container bodyvacuum drying chamber for vacuum drying, wherein: said container bodyundergoes liquid removing inside the container body liquid removingchamber in a rotary mode, inside the container body liquid removingchamber, multiple wind knives are provided to generate linear wind indifferent axial directions and in planar distributions, and to conductliquid removing for the inner surfaces and outer surfaces of thecontainer body at close distances; and said container body vacuum dryingchamber uses multiple thermal components (such as electric heating tilesor infrared heaters) in a vacuum environment to carry out liquidremoving for the inner surfaces and outer surfaces of the containerbody.

In a further embodiment, a load port is distributed around the cleaningprocessing zone station. Said load port is provided for placement of theobject FOUPs before separation of the container lid and the containerbody. Said load port is also provided for the object FOUP movingprocess. The moving process includes turning the direction of the objectFOUP.

In a further embodiment, the linear wind provided by the multiple windknives is hot air to heat the container body before vacuum drying.

In a further embodiment, the bottom of the container body is protrudedwith at least one suspended support shaft, and the inner surface of thecontainer body includes the peripheral surface of the suspended supportshaft.

In a further embodiment, the invention also includes a humiditydetecting process. The humidity detecting process is carried out afterthe combination of the container lid and the container body, including:the load port providing clean dry air into the object FOUP to generatepositive-pressure dry air; said load port provides a multi-pass tube tocapture the positive-pressure dry air, and the multi-pass tube providesa humidity sensor to detect the humidity of the positive-pressure dryair.

In a further embodiment, the multi-pass tube also provides a particlecounter, used to detect the amount of dust in the positive-pressure dryair.

In a further embodiment, the bottom of the container body is protrudedwith at least one suspended support shaft, and the inner surface of thecontainer body includes the peripheral surface of the suspended supportshaft.

In a further embodiment, the invention also includes a humiditydetecting process. Said humidity detecting process is carried out duringthe container body vacuum drying process, including: after completion ofthe container body vacuum drying process inside the container bodyvacuum drying chamber, dry air is introduced into the container bodyvacuum drying chamber to release the vacuum condition, and thenpositive-pressure dry air is generated inside the container body vacuumdrying chamber. Said container body vacuum drying chamber also providesa multi-pass tube, used to capture the positive-pressure dry air, andthe multi-pass tube provides a humidity sensor, used to detect thehumidity of the positive-pressure dry air.

In a further embodiment, said multi-pass tube also provides a particlecounter, used to detect the amount of dust in the positive-pressure dryair.

In a further embodiment, the bottom of the container body is protrudedwith at least one suspended support shaft, and the inner surface of thecontainer body includes the peripheral surface of the suspended supportshaft.

Moreover, another embodiment of the present invention discloses a set ofobject FOUP cleaning equipment, which includes: a robot, installed inthe cleaning processing zone station, to capture the object FOUP andseparates it into a container lid and a container body, the containerbody has an opening, the periphery of the cleaning processing zonestation is provided with: at least one container lid cleaning chamber,the robot captures the container lid and place it inside said at leastone container lid cleaning chamber, to carry out wet washing, liquidremoving and vacuum drying sequentially; at least one container bodywashing chamber, with built-in multiple liquid nozzles, the robotcaptures the container body, puts the opening downward inside said atleast one container body washing chamber, said multiple liquid nozzlescan be distributed around the outer surface and inner surface of thecontainer body and spray washing liquid, so as to carry out wet washingfor the container body; at least one container body liquid removingchamber, with a built-in turntable and multiple wind knives to providelinear wind in different axial directions and in planar distributions;the turntable is made of a hollow checkerboard frame, and is locatedclose to the bottom of said container body liquid removing chamber, therobot captures the container body inside said at least one containerbody washing chamber, puts the opening downward on the turntable; saidmultiple wind knives include a bottom wind knife and a side wind knife,the bottom wind knife is provided across the bottom of the turntable,the side wind knife is vertically configured on one side of the innerwall of said container body liquid removing chamber, and the linear windprovided by the bottom wind knife can blow the inner surface of thecontainer body through the opening, the linear wind provided by the sidewind knife can blow the outer surface of the container body; wherein,the turntable can drive the container body to rotate and receive thelinear wind provided by the bottom wind knife and the side wind kniferespectively in different axial directions and in planar distributions,so as to carry out liquid removing for the container body; at least onecontainer body vacuum drying chamber, configured with an exhaust holeand multiple thermal components, the exhaust hole is used to capture theair inside said container body vacuum drying chamber to generate nativepressure, the robot captures the container body inside said at least onecontainer body liquid removing chamber, puts the opening downward on thebottom of said container body vacuum drying chamber; said multiplethermal components can be distributed around the outer surface and innersurface of the container body in close distances to generate heatradiation, so as to carry out vacuum drying for the container body.

In another embodiment, said multiple thermal components include multiplevertical electric hot plates, said multiple vertical electric hot platesare vertically configured inside said container body vacuum dryingchamber and can be planted into the contain chamber of the containerbody, and can generate heat radiation to heat the inner surface of thecontainer body in close distance. In addition, said multiple thermalcomponents also include multiple wall-type electric hot plates,respectively adhered to the peripheral walls of the container bodyvacuum drying chamber, capable of generating heat radiation to heat theouter surface of the container body.

In a further embodiment, a load port is installed around the cleaningprocessing zone station, the load port includes a platform for placementof the object FOUP, the platform is configured with at least one lineardriver to move the object FOUP, and a rotating device to turn thedirection of the object FOUP, the robot captures the object FOUP fromthe platform and separates it into said container lid and said containerbody, the robot also captures said container body with completion ofvacuum drying inside said at least one container body vacuum dryingchamber and said container lid with completion of cleaning inside saidat least one container lid cleaning chamber, and combine said containerbody and said container lid and place it on the platform.

In a further embodiment, the platform of the load port is installedwith: an air inlet nozzle to introduce clean positive-pressure dry airinto the object FOUP, and an air discharge nozzle to dischargepositive-pressure dry air from the object FOUP, the air discharge nozzleis connected to a multi-pass tube, the multi-pass tube is connected to ahumidity sensor, through the multi-pass tube, the humidity sensor candetect the humidity of the positive-pressure dry air discharged from theobject FOUP.

In a further embodiment, the multi-pass tube is also connected to aparticle counter, through the multi-pass tube, and the particle countercan detect the amount of dust in the positive-pressure dry airdischarged from the object FOUP.

In a further embodiment, said at least one container body vacuum dryingchamber is also configured with an air inlet, the air inlet canintroduce clean dry air into said container body vacuum drying chamberto release the vacuum condition and generate positive-pressure dry air,the exhaust hole is connected to a multi-pass tube, the multi-pass tubeis connected to a humidity sensor, through the multi-pass tube, thehumidity sensor can detect the humidity of the positive-pressure dry airdischarged from said container body vacuum drying chamber via theexhaust hole.

In a further embodiment, the multi-pass tube is also connected to aparticle counter, through the multi-pass tube, and the particle countercan detect the amount of dust in the positive-pressure dry airdischarged from said container body vacuum drying chamber.

In a further embodiment, said multiple wind knives is connected to awind pressure supplier, the wind pressure supplier is configured with anelectric heater.

In a further embodiment, the bottom of the container body is protrudedwith at least one suspended support shaft, and the inner surface of thecontainer body includes the peripheral surface of the suspended supportshaft.

The technology disclosed in the present invention can automaticallyclean object FOUPs with complicated internal structure of the containerbody (such as carrier FOUPs). It can also be applied for automaticallycleaning chip FOUPs. This is clearly indicated in the present invention.

The features and technical effects disclosed in the various embodimentsare presented in the following descriptions and figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the object FOUP.

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are sectional views of the object FOUP seen fromdifferent angles.

FIG. 4 a is a step-by-step flow chart of the first embodiment of thecleaning method according to the invention.

FIG. 4 b is a step-by-step flow chart of the second embodiment of thecleaning method according to the invention.

FIG. 5 to FIG. 10 are sequential operational views of the cleaningmethod according to the invention.

FIG. 11 is the operational view of the humidity detecting process inFIG. 4 a.

FIG. 12 is the operational view of the humidity detecting process inFIG. 4 b.

FIG. 13 is the configuration view of the cleaning equipment according tothe invention.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the load port in FIG. 13 .

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the container body washing chamber inFIG. 13 .

FIG. 16 is a sectional view of the container body vacuum drying chamberin FIG. 13 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following descriptions of patent embodiments, the term “cleaning”has a wider meaning than “washing”, and includes processes of “wetwashing (or washing), liquid removing and vacuum drying”; moreover, itis to be noted that “cleaning” can also include the “humidity detecting”process.

FIG. 4 a illustrates the object FOUP cleaning method of the inventionimplemented in cleaning processing zone stations 90 (see FIG. 13 ). Inactual application, the cleaning processing zone station 90 can be apolygonal zone enclosed by chambers or equipment for washing (i.e., wetwashing), liquid removing and vacuum drying of the object FOUP 10.Moreover, inside the cleaning processing zone station 90, a robot 20(seeFIG. 13 ) is configured to capture, move, separate, release and assemblethe object FOUP 10, in order to execute the cleaning method disclosed inthe invention. The cleaning method includes the following steps from S1to S3:

Step S1: Separating the Object FOUP:

Referring to FIG. 5 to FIG. 6 , an object FOUP 10 combined by acontainer body 11 and a container lid 12 is firstly transferred to aload port by a device around the cleaning processing zone station 90.The load port can lift, move and transport the object FOUP 10 to turndirections (for example 180 degrees), so that the object FOUP 10 withits container lid 12 not open will face its opening 11 c of thecontainer body 11 after opening-up toward a preset direction D (see FIG.5 ). In the present embodiment, the preset direction D is to face theopening 11 c away from the position of the robot 20 inside the cleaningprocessing zone station 90 (see FIG. 13 ). In other words, the presetdirection D is to face the opening 11 c toward the installation positionof the load port 30 with the robot 20 as the center point. The aim is tofacilitate easy separation of the container lid 12 from the containerbody 11, and easy combination after the robot 20 captures the objectFOUP 10(i.e., for easy execution to open and close the lid), and makethe opening 11 c of the container body 11 after opening of the lidexposed outside to be easily placed in the washing, liquid removing, andvacuum drying chambers (to be detailed later).

Moreover, the load port 30 can also move the object FOUP 10 afterdirection turning to a position that is easy for the robot 20 tocapture; then, the robot 20 clamps the two side walls of the containerbody 11 to capture the whole object FOUP 10 on the load port 30, andthen, the robot 20 moves the whole object FOUP 10 to a lid-openingposition L (see FIG. 13 ) inside the cleaning processing zone station 90close to the load port 30; in the present embodiment, the lid-openingposition L is located on a side wall 36 of the load port 30 inside thecleaning processing zone station 90, the side wall 36 is configured witha fastener specifically provided for the container lid 12 and alid-opening key (not shown in the figure). The fastener can beimplemented as an absorbing disc or other components like flexible hooksetc. And the container lid 12 is already configured with a key hole (notshown in the figure) corresponding to the lid-opening key; When therobot 20 captures and moves the object FOUP 10 after direction turning,the preset opening 11 c position (i.e., the position to assemble thecontainer lid 12) of the container body 11 just faces toward thedirection of the side wall 36, and the container lid 12 can contact thefastener on the side wall 36, and the fastener on the side wall 36 canabsorb or clamp the container lid 12 on the container body 11. Now, thelid-opening key on the side wall 36 can be planted into the key hole ofthe container lid 12, the lid-opening key rotates to release the lockedstate between the container lid 12 and the container body 11 realizedthrough a latch. Subsequently, the robot 20 clamping the container body11 will move backward to complete the lid-opening action. In the end,the robot 20 moves the container body 11 away from the container lid 12,so that the opening 11 c of the container body 11 is exposed (see FIG. 6).

Step S2: Cleaning the Container Lid and the Container Body:

Referring to FIG. 13 , in implementation, Step S2 is to carry outsequential processes of wet washing, liquid removing and vacuum dryingin the cleaning processing zone station 90 for the container lid 12 andthe container body 11. Specifically, as the structure of the peripheralsurfaces of the container lid 12 is not very complicated, said wetwashing, liquid removing and vacuum drying processes for the containerlid 12 can be carried out altogether in the at least one container lidcleaning chamber 40, including using two or more than two container lidcleaning chambers40 to respectively carry out said wet washing, liquidremoving and vacuum drying processes for the container lid 12; whenthere are two container lid cleaning chambers40, the wet washing andliquid removing processes for the container lid 12 can be carried out inthe same chamber, and the vacuum drying process for the container lid 12can be carried out in another chamber. Said wet washing, liquid removingand vacuum drying processes for the container body 11 are respectivelycarried out in multiple different chambers; In implementation, saidcontainer lid cleaning chamber 40 and said multiple different chambersare distributed around the cleaning processing zone station 90; Inimplementation, said multiple different chambers include at least onecontainer body washing chamber 50 for wet washing, at least onecontainer body liquid removing chamber 60 for liquid removing, and atleast one container body vacuum drying chamber 70 for vacuum drying. Inaddition, in implementation, the container body 11 is put into saidcontainer body washing chamber 50, said container body liquid removingchamber 60 and said container body vacuum drying chamber 70 with theopening 11 c facing downward; wherein, as the robot 20 can expose theopening 11 c during movement of the container body 11, during theprocesses of said wet washing, liquid removing and vacuum drying for thecontainer body 11, the robot 20 can put the container body 11 into saidmultiple different chambers with the opening 11 c facing downward (i.e.,the same direction as the force of gravity), so that, during the wetwashing, liquid removing and vacuum drying processes for the containerbody 11, the washing liquid remained on the inner surface 11 f of thecontainer body 11 can be attracted by the force of gravity and gosmoothly away from the container body 11 through the opening 11 c, andwill no longer remain on the inner surface 11 f of the container body11.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the wet washing process for the container body 11is carried out in said container body washing chamber 50, includingusing multiple liquid nozzles 51 inside said container body washingchamber to spray washing liquid on the inner surface 11 f and outersurface 11 g of the container body 11 to carry out said wet washingprocess. Specifically, said multiple liquid nozzles 51 include multiplewall nozzles 511 distributed on the peripheral inner walls of thecontainer body washing chamber 50, and multiple rotary liquid nozzles512 that can be planted into the contain chamber 14 of the containerbody 11; said multiple wall nozzles 511 can spray washing liquid to washthe peripheral outer surface 11 f of the container body 11, and saidmultiple rotary liquid nozzles 512 can rotate in 360 degrees and spraywashing liquid on the peripheral inner surface 11 f of the containerbody 11. In addition, in implementation, the inner surface 11 f of thecontainer body 11 also includes the peripheral surfaces of ribs 13 andsuspended support shaft 15 configured inside the container body 11;therefore, specifically, said multiple rotary liquid nozzles 512 canspray washing liquid on the peripheral surfaces of the comb-like ribs 13and the suspended support shaft 15 in a 360-degree rotary mode, so thatthe dust remained on the come-like ribs 13 and suspended support shaft15 can receive washing liquid from different angles, and be thoroughlyflushed to go away from said inner surface 11 f.

Referring to FIG. 8 , said liquid removing process for the containerbody 11 is carried out inside said container body liquid removingchamber 60, and the container body 11 receives the liquid removingprocess inside said container body liquid removing chamber 60 in arotary mode; said rotary mode refers to the implementation ofspeed-changing self rotation including forward and backward rotations torealize the effect of liquid removing for the container body 11 asexpected by the control end. Furthermore, inside the container bodyliquid removing chamber 60, multiple wind knives are used to providelinear wind in different axial directions and in planar distributions62. The present invention specifically uses the linear wind in differentaxial directions and in planar distributions provided by the wind knives62. Said linear wind in different axial directions can thoroughly removethe washing liquid beads remained on the inner surface 11 f and outersurface 11 g of the container body 11, so as to enhance the effect ofliquid removing for the container body 11.

In a further embodiment, said linear wind provided by the wind knives 62can be generated by using a blower to drive dry air. The dry air isfirstly filtered and heated, so that the wind knives 62 can provideclean and hot linear wind to blow the inner surface 11 f and outersurface 11 g of the container body 11. Thus, as the linear wind providedby said wind knives 62 is hot wind, during the whole liquid removingprocess, it can not only accelerate the evaporation of the washingliquid residues on the inner surface 11 f and outer surface 11 g on thecontainer body 11, but also preheat the container body 11 to enhance thedrying effect for the container body 11 in the subsequent vacuum dryingprocess (to be detailed later).

Referring to FIG. 9 , the container body 11 vacuum drying process iscarried out in the container body vacuum drying chamber 70; inimplementation, the internal space of said container body vacuum dryingchamber 70 must be a space capable of forming a vacuum environment, andthere are multiple thermal components 72. In a preferred embodiment,said thermal components 72 can be planar electric hot plates, so that,when the container body 11 is planted into the container body vacuumdrying chamber 70, the multiple planar electric hot plates can bedistributed around the inner surface 11 f and outer surface 11 g of thecontainer body 11, so as to carry out the vacuum drying process for theinner surface 11 f and outer surface 11 g of the container body 11 afterexecution of the liquid removing process. In addition, the multiplethermal components 72 can also be infrared heaters, but the effect isnot good, so it is not detailed herein.

It is to be noted that, after the container body 11 receives hot-airlinear wind from the wind knives 62 in the liquid removing process tocomplete the liquid removing process, the container body 11 itself has apreheated temperature higher than the normal temperatures and lower thanthe boiling point of water. This preheated temperature can cause thewater remained on the inner surface and outer surface 11 f, 11 g of thecontainer body 11 to be preheated together. Therefore, when thecontainer body 11 is subsequently planted into the container body vacuumdrying chamber 70 for the vacuum drying process, in the vacuum chamberenvironment (lower than 1 atm), the boiling point of the water remainedon the inner surface and outer surface 11 f, 11 g of the container body11, will not be instantly reduced under the influence of the vacuumpressure or the water be instantly frozen. Thus, in the vacuumenvironment of the negative-pressure chamber, and under the heating bythe heat radiation generated by the thermal components 72, the waterremained on the inner surface and outer surface 11 f, 11 g of thecontainer body 11 can be quickly heated to the boiling point, and beevaporated to leave the inner surface and outer surface 11 f, 11 g ofthe container body 11, so as to shorten the time of the vacuum dryingprocess for the container body 11.

Step S3: Combining Container Lid and Container Body:

Referring to FIG. 10 , after completion of said wet washing, liquidremoving and vacuum drying processes, the container lid 12 is placed onthe side wall 36. The above-said side wall 36 used as the lid-openingposition L can also be used as a lid-closing position. More specificallyspeaking, when the wet washing, liquid removing and vacuum dryingprocesses of said container lid 12 and container body 11 arerespectively completed, they are also be transported by the robot 20 andbe combined into a whole object FOUP 10 at the lid-opening positionL(i.e., lid-closing position); in implementation, there can be one ormultiple load port 30, and is configured at or close to at least one endof the cleaning processing zone station 90, to act as the window for theobject FOUP 10 to be washed to go into the cleaning processing zonestation 90. Meanwhile, the load port 30 is also used as the window forthe washed object FOUP 10 to leave the cleaning processing zone station90 (see FIG. 13 ).

Referring to FIG. 4 a and FIG. 11 together, the cleaning method includesa humidity detecting process.

The first embodiment of the humidity detecting process is conductedafter combination of the container lid 12 and the container body 11;more particularly, the humidity detecting process is carried out in theload port 30. After the container lid 12 and the container body 11 arecombined into the object FOUP 10 at the lid-opening position L, theinternal space of the object FOUP 10 is formed as a closed space. Then,the object FOUP 10 is moved to the load port 30. The load port 30introduces clean dry air into the object FOUP 10, so that apositive-pressure of dry air is formed inside the object FOUP 10, i.e.,the air pressure inside the object FOUP 10 is larger than the outsideair pressure. The load port 30 also provides a multi-pass tube 80. Thepositive-pressure dry air inside the object FOUP 10 can leave the objectFOUP 10 through the multi-pass tube 80. The multi-pass tube 80 providesa humidity sensor 81 to detect the humidity of the positive-pressure dryair and a particle counter 82 to detect the amount of dust in thepositive-pressure dry air. In this way, the humidity and cleannessinside the object FOUP 10 can be detected.

Referring jointly to FIG. 4 b and FIG. 12 , the second embodiment of thehumidity detecting process is carried out in the vacuum drying processfor the container body 11. After completion of the vacuum drying processof the container body 11 inside said container body vacuum dryingchamber 70, clean dry air is introduced into said container body vacuumdrying chamber to release the vacuum state inside said container bodyvacuum drying chamber 70 (i.e., to break the vacuum), so that apositive-pressure of dry air is formed inside said container body vacuumdrying chamber 70, i.e., the air pressure inside said container bodyvacuum drying chamber 70 is larger than the outside air pressure. Saidcontainer body vacuum drying chamber 70 provides a multi-pass tube 80,so that the positive-pressure dry air inside said container body vacuumdrying chamber 70 can go through the multi-pass tube 80 and leave saidcontainer body vacuum drying chamber 70. The multi-pass tube 80 providesa humidity sensor 81 to detect the humidity of the positive-pressure dryair and a particle counter 82 to detect the positive-pressure dry air.Thus, the humidity and cleanness inside said container body vacuumdrying chamber 70 can be monitored, so as to know the humidity andcleanness inside the container body 11.

On the other hand, further referring to FIG. 13 , the present inventionalso provides cleaning equipment for the object FOUP to facilitate theabove-said object FOUP cleaning method.

The object FOUP cleaning equipment is built inside the cleaningprocessing zone station 90. The cleaning equipment includes the robot20, at least one load port 30, at least one container lid cleaningchamber at least one container body washing chamber 50, at least onecontainer body liquid removing chamber 60 and at least one containerbody vacuum drying chamber 70, wherein:

The robot 20 is installed inside the cleaning processing zone station90. The load port 30, the container lid cleaning chamber 40, thecontainer body washing chamber 50, the container body liquid removingchamber 60 and the container body vacuum drying chamber 70 arerespectively distributed around the robot 20. The robot 20 can move theobject FOUP 10 on the load port 30 to be close to the lid-openingposition L of the load port 30. In the present embodiment, thelid-opening position L is located on the side wall 36 of the load port30. The object FOUP 10 can be separated into the container lid 12 andthe container body 11 at the lid-opening position L. Also, the containerlid 12 and the container body 11 can be combined into the object FOUP 10at the lid-opening position L, and be moved to the load port 30. Thecontainer lid 12 can be captured by the robot and be moved to thelid-opening position Land said container lid cleaning chamber 40, thecontainer body 11 can be captured by the robot 20 and be moved to thelid-opening position L, said container body washing chamber saidcontainer body liquid removing chamber 60 and said container body vacuumdrying chamber 70.

Referring jointly to FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 , the load port 30 includes aplatform 31 for placement of the object FOUP 10. The platform 31 isprovided with at least one linear driver 32 to move the object FOUP 10.The object FOUP 10 moves on the platform 31 under the drive by thelinear driver 32. In implementation, said linear driver 32 can bemultiple rollers distributed on the platform 31 with correspondence toeach other. Each of the rollers can rotate simultaneously under thedrive by the motor, and can drive the object FOUP 10 to move; theplatform 31 is also provided with a rotating device 33 to drive theobject FOUP 10 to adjust the direction of the opening 11 c of thecontainer body 11. The rotating device 33 is located below the lineardriver 32. When the object FOUP 10 is driven by the linear driver 32 tomove to a position above the rotating device 33, the rotating device 33will rise and life the object FOUP 10 to leave the linear driver 32.Then, the object FOUP 10 is driven by the rotating device 33 to face theopening 11 c of the container body 11 away from the robot 20 (i.e.,facing toward the preset direction D). Then, the rotating device 33 willdescend to place the object FOUP 10 after direction turning on thelinear driver 32. In the end, the robot 20 captures the object FOUP 10after direction turning, move the object FOUP 10 to a position close tothe lid-opening position L of the load port 30. The object FOUP 10 isseparated into the container lid 12 and the container body 11 at thelid-opening position L; Or, the robot 20 captures the container body 11in the container body vacuum drying chamber 70 after vacuum drying andthe container lid 12 inside the container lid cleaning chamber 40 aftercleaning, and combine the container body 11 and the container lid 12 atthe lid-opening position L into the object FOUP 10 and place it on theplatform 31.

Comparing to the container body 11, as the concave or convex structureson the periphery of the container lid 12 are not so complicated, thereis no need to carry out the wet washing, liquid removing and vacuumdrying processes in different chambers. Therefore, further referring toFIG. 13 , in implementation, said container lid cleaning chamber 40 canbe designed into a two-storey chamber with one single flooring area.Each storey of the container lid cleaning chamber 40 is provided with acover board 40 a that can be turned open; wherein, the lower-storeychamber can be used to install structures for wet washing of thecontainer lid 12 and for liquid removing of the rotary container lid(refer to the structure of the container body washing chamber 50 and thecontainer body liquid removing chamber 60), and the upper chamber can beused to install the structures for the vacuum drying container lid 12(refer to the structure of the container body vacuum drying chamber 70).Thus, the cover board 40 a of said container lid cleaning chamber 40 canbe turned open so that said container lid cleaning chamber 40 iscommunicated with the outside, and the robot 20 can place the containerlid 12 into the container lid cleaning chamber 40, to carry out the wetwashing, liquid removing and vacuum drying processes for the containerlid all at once or one by one, and then can capture the container lid 12after completion of the wet washing, liquid removing and vacuum dryingfrom the container lid cleaning chamber 40; on the contrary, when thecover board 40 a is closed, the inner space of the container lidcleaning chamber 40 forms a closed space to facilitate wet washing,liquid removing and vacuum drying processes for the container lid 12inside the container lid cleaning chamber 40.

Further referring to FIG. 13 , said container body washing chamber 50 isconfigured with multiple liquid nozzles 51 (see FIG. 7 ), includemultiple wall nozzles 511 configured on the peripheral inner wall of thecontainer body washing chamber 50, and multiple rotary liquid nozzles512 that can be planted into the contain chamber 14 of the containerbody 11; when the robot 20 captures the container body 11, and placesthe container body 11 into said container body washing chamber 50 withits opening 11 c facing downward, said multiple wall nozzles 511 canspray washing liquid to flush the peripheral outer surface 11 f of thecontainer body 11, and said multiple rotary liquid nozzles 512 can spraythe peripheral inner surface 11 f of the container body 11 with360-degree rotations, so that the wet washing process of the containerbody 11 can be carried out smoothly inside the container body washingchamber 50; wherein, during the wet washing process of the containerbody 11, as the opening 11 c of the container body 11 is maintained tobe facing downward, during the wet washing processes of the containerbody 11, washing liquid can directly leave the container body 11 throughthe opening 11 c at the bottom and will not remain inside the containerbody 11. In implementation, said container body washing chamber can beprovided with a cover board 50 a that can be turned open. When the coverboard 50 a is turned open, the container body washing chamber 50 iscommunicated to the outside, and the robot 20 can place the containerbody 11 needing wet washing into the container body washing chamber 50,or can capture the container body 11 inside the container body washingchamber 50 that has completed the wet washing process; on the contrary,when the cover board 50 a is closed, the inner space of said containerbody washing chamber forms a closed space to facilitate the wet washingprocess for the container body 11 inside said container body washingchamber 50, while avoiding spattering of the washing liquid out of thecontainer body washing chamber during the wet washing process of thecontainer body 11.

Referring jointly to FIG. 13 and FIG. 15 , said container body liquidremoving chamber 60 is configured with a turntable 61 and multiple windknives to provide linear wind in different axial directions and inplanar distributions62, wherein the turntable 61 is made of a hollowcheckerboard frame, and is located close to the bottom of said containerbody liquid removing chamber 60. The robot 20captures the container body11 inside said container body washing chamber 50 that has completed saidwet washing, puts the container body 11 on the turntable 61 with itsopening 11 c facing downward; in implementation, said multiple windknives 62 can include a bottom wind knife 621 and a side wind knife 622,the bottom wind knife 621 runs across the bottom of the turntable 61,the side wind knife 622 is placed on one side of the inner wall of thecontainer body liquid removing chamber 60, and the linear wind providedby the bottom wind knife 621 can blow on the inner surface 11 f of thecontainer body 11 through the opening 11 c, the linear wind provided bythe side wind knife 622 can blow on the outer surface 11 f of thecontainer body 11. When the container body 11 receives blowing by thelinear wind of the bottom wind knife 621 and the side wind knife 622respectively at different axial directions and in planar distributions,the turntable 61 can drive the container body 11 to rotate, so that thelinear wind provided by the bottom wind knife 621 and the side windknife 622 can evenly blow on the inner surface 11 f and outer surface 11g of the container body 11, thus enhancing the effect of liquid removingfor the container body 11. Furthermore, in implementation, said windknives 62 are connected to a wind pressure supplier 63. The windpressure supplier 63 is provided with an electric heater (not shown inthe figure). The electric heater heats up the high-pressure air providedby the wind pressure supplier 63. In implementation, said container bodyliquid removing chamber 60 can be provided with a cover board 60 a thatcan be turned open. When the cover board 60 a is turned open, thecontainer body liquid removing chamber 60 is communicated to theoutside, so that the robot 20 can place the container body 11 needingliquid removing into said container body liquid removing chamber 60, orcan capture the container body 11 after completion of liquid removinginside the container body liquid removing chamber 60; on the contrary,when the cover board 60 a is closed, the inner space of the containerbody liquid removing chamber 60 forms a closed space to facilitate theliquid removing process for the container body 11 inside the containerbody liquid removing chamber 60, while avoiding splattering of thewashing liquid out of the container body liquid removing chamber 60during the liquid removing process for the container body 11.

Referring jointly to FIG. 13 and FIG. 16 , said container body vacuumdrying chamber 70 is configured with an exhaust hole 71 and multipleplanar thermal components 72, wherein the exhaust hole 71 is used tocapture the air inside the container body vacuum drying chamber 70 togenerate negative pressure. Said multiple thermal components 72 includemultiple built-in vertical electric hot plates 721 and multiplewall-type electric hot plates 722; said vertical electric hot plate 721is vertically placed in the container body vacuum drying chamber 70.After the container body 11 is placed into the container body vacuumdrying chamber 70, the vertical electric hot plate 721 can be plantedinto the contain chamber 14 of the container body 11, so that thevertical electric hot plates 721 can be planted into the gap between theribs 13 and suspended support shaft 15 to provide heat radiation; saidmultiple wall-type electric hot plates 722 are respectively adhered tothe peripheral walls of the container body vacuum drying chamber 70, andafter the wall-type electric hot plates 722 are adhered to theperipheral walls of the container body vacuum drying chamber 70, itsperiphery is covered with a heat insulation layer 74 made of heatinsulation materials, so that the wall-type electric hot plates 722 arepositioned between the peripheral wall of the container body vacuumdrying chamber 70 and the heat insulation layer 74. Based on such anembodiment, the heat generated by the vertical electric hot plate 721can be directly radiated on the peripheral inner surface 11 f of thecontainer body 11, and the heat generated by the wall-type electric hotplates 722 can be conducted by the peripheral wall of the container bodyvacuum drying chamber 70, and be radiated to the peripheral outersurface 11 g of the container body 11; specifically, the water moleculespossibly remained on the inner surface 11 f and outer surface 11 g ofthe container body 11 after liquid removing (i.e., after removing theliquid beads) can be evaporated under thorough heat radiation during thevacuum drying process, thus realizing ideal drying effect.

After the robot 20 captures the container body 11 that has completed theliquid removing process inside said container body liquid removingchamber 60, and places the container body 11 on the bottom of saidcontainer body vacuum drying chamber 70 with its opening 11 c facingdownward, the vertical electric hot plate 721 can extend through theopening 11 c into the container body 11 without any touching, to carryvacuum drying for the inner surface 11 f of the container body 11 in aclose distance, and said wall-type electric hot plate 722 can carry outvacuum drying for the outer surface 11 f of the container body 11 in aclose distance. In implementation, said container body vacuum dryingchamber 70 is provided with a cover board 70 a that can be turned open.When the cover board 70 a is turned open, said container body vacuumdrying chamber 70 is communicated to the outside, so that the robot 20can place the container body 11 needing vacuum drying into the containerbody vacuum drying chamber 70, or capture the container body 11 that hascompleted vacuum drying inside the container body vacuum drying chamber70; on the contrary, when the cover board 70 a is closed, the innerspace of the container body vacuum drying chamber 70 forms a closedspace to facilitate the vacuum drying process of the container body 11inside the container body vacuum drying chamber 70.

Referring jointly to FIG. 3 , FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 , the first embodimentof the related structure applied to implement the humidity detectingprocess is disclosed; wherein, as disclosed in FIG. 3 , on the bottom ofthe container body 11 of the object FOUP 10, there are multiple firstinterfaces 11 d for filling air into the object FOUP 10, and multiplesecond interfaces 11 e to discharge the air, and the first interfaces 11d and the second interfaces 11 e are respectively configured with anon-return feature, so that air can only go in one direction from thefirst interface 11 d into the object FOUP 10, and go in one directionfrom the second interface 11 e out of the object FOUP 10; In addition,as disclosed in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 , the platform 31 of the load port30 is configured with an inlet nozzle 34 and an air discharge nozzle 35,wherein, when the object FOUP 10 is placed and positioned on theplatform 31, the air inlet nozzle 34 can be inserted and communicated tothe first interface 11 d, and the air discharge nozzle 35 can beinserted to communicate to the second interface 11 e. Based on suchstructural installations, the innovation of the present invention is touse the air inlet nozzle 34 to introduce clean positive-pressure dry airinto the object FOUP 10 through the first interface 11 d, and makes itpossible for the positive-pressure dry air inside the object FOUP 10 tobe discharged from the second interface 11 e and the air dischargenozzle 35 and be collected, so as to detect if the humidity and dustlevel inside the object FOUP 10 after cleaning can meet the standard ofcleanness. For this purpose, the present invention specifically connectsthe air discharge nozzle 35 to a multi-pass tube 80, meanwhile connectsthe multi-pass tube 80 to a humidity sensor 81 (see FIG. 11 ), so thatthe humidity sensor 81 can detect the humidity of the positive-pressuredry air discharged from the object FOUP 10. Furthermore, the presentinvention can also use the multi-pass tube 80 to be connected to aparticle counter 82, so that the particle counter 82 can detect theamount of dust in the positive-pressure dry air discharged from theobject FOUP 10. Specifically, it is to be noted that, after clean dryair is introduced from the air inlet nozzle 34 to the cleaned objectFOUP 10, the air discharge nozzle 35 is in a closed state, so that thedry air inside the object FOUP 10 can generate air flow of positivepressure (i.e., higher than 1 atm) capture water or dust residues on theinner surfaces of the object FOUP 10 (including inner surfaces of thecontainer body and the container lid); then, the air discharge nozzle 35is opened, so that the positive-pressure dry air inside the object FOUP10 can maintain a certain period of discharge through the multi-passtube 80, and the discharged positive-pressure dry air is sampled todetect the humidity and the amount of dust; During the continuousdischarge of the positive-pressure dry air, the air inlet nozzle 34 iskept open, so that the dry air inside the object FOUP 10 can maintaincontinuous outflow under positive pressure, so as to enhance theefficiency for the dry air to capture water molecules and dustparticles. Moreover, the present invention can also connect a negativepressure generator to the multi-pass tube 80, so as to quickly capturethe positive-pressure dry air inside the object FOUP 10 to go throughthe multi-pass tube 80 into the humidity sensor 81 and the particlecounter 82, so as to enhance the speed of humidity and dust particledetection.

Referring jointly to FIG. 13 and FIG. 16 , a second embodiment of therelated structure applied for the humidity detecting process isdisclosed; wherein, as disclosed in FIG. 16 , except the exhaust hole 71to introduce negative pressure to generate vacuum pressure, saidcontainer body vacuum drying chamber 70 is also provided with an airinlet 73 to introduce clean dry air; specifically, the exhaust hole 71is used to connect to the multi-pass tube 80, and the negative pressuregenerator (such as an air suction pump) can be connected to one of themultiple interfaces of the multi-pass tube 80, so as to capture the airinside the container body vacuum drying chamber 70 through the exhausthole 71 to generate said vacuum pressure; moreover, as shown in FIG. 12, another interface among the multiple interfaces of the multi-pass tube80 can be connected to the humidity sensor 81, and another interfaceamong the multiple interfaces of the multi-pass tube 80 can be connectedto the particle counter 82. Based on such structural installations, thepresent invention can, after completion of the vacuum drying process ofthe container body 11 inside the container body vacuum drying chamber 70under the vacuum pressure maintained, use the air inlet 73 to introduceclean dry air into the container body vacuum drying chamber 70 torelease the vacuum condition, and generate positive-pressure dry airinside the container body vacuum drying chamber 70, so thatpositive-pressure dry air can be discharged from the exhaust hole 71 tothe multi-pass tube 80. Thus, the humidity sensor 81 can detect thehumidity of the positive-pressure dry air discharged from the objectFOUP 10, and meanwhile, the particle counter 82 can detect the amount ofdust in the positive-pressure dry air. Specifically, it is to be notedthat, the exhaust hole 71 and the air inlet 73 are respectivelyconfigured with automatic valves (such as solenoid valves); wherein, theautomatic valve of the exhaust hole 71 can control when to let thenegative pressure air to be discharged from the exhaust hole 71 out ofthe container body vacuum drying chamber 70, and the automatic valve ofthe air inlet 73 can control when to let dry air flow through the airinlet 73 into the container body vacuum drying chamber 70 to generatepositive pressure. More specifically, after the exhaust hole 71 capturesthe air inside the container body vacuum drying chamber 70 to generatevacuum pressure, the air inlet 73 is in a closed state to facilitategeneration of vacuum pressure; and when the air inlet 73 is opened tointroduce dry air into the container body vacuum drying chamber 70, theexhaust hole 71 is in a closed state to enable the dry air to generatepositive pressure, and to capture the possible water and dust residueson the inner and outer surfaces 11 f, 11 g of the container body 11;Then, the exhaust hole 71 is opened to maintain a certain period ofdischarge of the positive-pressure dry air inside the container bodyvacuum drying chamber 70 through the multi-pass tube 80, and thedischarged positive-pressure dry air is sampled for humidity and dustparticle detection; and during the continuous discharge of thepositive-pressure dry air, the air inlet 73 is maintain in the openstate, so that the dry air inside the container body vacuum dryingchamber 70 can maintain a positive-pressure outflow to enhance theefficiency for the dry air to capture the water molecules and dustparticles.

Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferredembodiment, it is to be understood that many other possiblemodifications and variations can be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

1. A method for cleaning a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod), implementedin a cleaning processing zone station, the method comprising: firstlyseparating the FOUP into a container lid and a container body, so thatthe container body has an opening, then sequentially carrying out a wetwashing process, a liquid removing process and a vacuum drying processfor the container lid and the container body, and finally combining thecontainer lid and the container body, wherein, said wet washing process,said liquid removing process, and said vacuum drying process for thecontainer body are respectively carried out in multiple differentchambers, and said multiple different chambers are distributed aroundthe cleaning processing zone station, including: at least one containerbody washing chamber for wet washing, at least one container body liquidremoving chamber for liquid removing, and at least one container bodyvacuum drying chamber for vacuum drying, wherein: the container bodywith the opening facing downward is in a rotary mode to receive liquidremoving inside said container body liquid removing chamber, a bottom ofthe container body is protruded with at least one suspended supportshaft, one of the inner surfaces of the container body includes aperipheral surface of the suspended support shaft, and inside saidcontainer body liquid removing chamber, multiple wind knives are used togenerate linear wind, which is to preheat the container body beforevacuum drying, at different axial directions to conduct liquid removingfor inner surfaces and outer surfaces of the container body, whereinsaid rotary mode refers to an implementation of speed-changing selfrotation including forward and backward rotations to realize an effectof the liquid removing for the container body; said multiple wind knivesinclude a bottom wind knife, the bottom wind knife is provided across abottom of said container body liquid removing chamber, and the bottomwind knife blows the inner surfaces of the container body through theopening; and inside said container body vacuum drying chamber, multiplethermal components are used to conduct vacuum drying after liquidremoving for the inner surfaces and outer surfaces of the container bodyin a vacuum environment.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1, whereinsaid multiple thermal components are planar electric hot plate.
 3. Themethod as recited in claim 1, wherein, a load port is distributed aroundsaid cleaning processing zone station, the load port is used forplacement of the FOUP before separation of the container lid and thecontainer body, the load port also provides a process to move the FOUP,the moving process includes turning a direction of the FOUP.